Race training guide: What to eat when training

When training for a race, don’t forget nutrition.

“Training really does start at the table,” says Lisa Lovejoy, MEd, RD, CSSD, CD, a sports dietitian for MultiCare Orthopedics & Sports Medicine.

“The best thing a runner can do is establish a healthy training diet — not terribly exciting news, but hard work works.”

Most of us know the difference between healthy and unhealthy foods, but we have trouble consistently making healthy choices, she says. It’s a gradual process and it takes planning.

“We need to make eating healthy foods as convenient as grabbing unhealthy ones,” Lovejoy says. “It’s not rocket science, but we need to think ahead.”

Some ideas:

• Buy plenty of fruits and vegetables and put them into a container that makes them easy for you to consume.
• Portion out whole-grain crackers into baggies, buy string cheese and prepare some hard-boiled eggs for convenient snacks.
• A bowl of whole-grain cereal with low-fat or nonfat milk, or peanut/almond butter on whole-grain bread are quick and easy any time of day.

Another great way to plan ahead is to create “planned-overs” — preparing more of a healthy recipe than you need for one meal so you can save the rest for tomorrow’s lunch.

You can also repurpose parts of a meal for use later — tonight’s grilled chicken served with brown rice and veggies makes a great protein for tomorrow’s salad at lunch.

Carbohydrates get bad press these days, but they are the primary source of energy for our working muscles, Lovejoy says.

Quality carbs such as whole grains, fruits and veggies play a crucial role in a runner’s training diet, while empty carbs such as sugar-sweetened beverages are not helpful.

Editor’s note: This article was originally published in April 2016 and updated in May 2023.